Goal setting is crucial for getting what you want in business (and beyond). There is really no other way to produce real and lasting change. In fact, if you look closely at your significant accomplishments, of course, there was a thoroughly planned and well-executed goal behind it. Here are the reasons why goal setting is so important.

Clarity

Goal setting gives you clarity about what you want. Most of us have vague desires floating around in our heads. You actually create your goals twice – once in your mind and once later in reality. The clearer the vision in your mind, the easier it is to formulate concrete steps that will get you there.

Responsibility

When you set down a goal and start working toward it, you amp-up your ownership over it. You’ll be less likely to be influenced by external factors and understand that success has everything to do with your attitude and actions. You can no longer blame others for your failure. You become solely accountable.

Action

An action plan becomes much easier to create with a clearly defined goal. Get started today by taking small steps toward your target. An important part of the goal setting process is breaking up your goals into smaller goals and a daily action plan that will get you there.

Motivation

One of the most important ingredients to goal setting is your understanding of why you’re doing it. Without this, how do you stay on target when things go wrong? Making daily progress toward your goal should build your motivation to keep going. You can see how far you've come and know that turning back (or stopping) would be much worse than grinding forward. For many people, creating a timeline adds sense of urgency and that much more motivation.

Focus

A goal and plan for achieving it will help keep you focused on what you need to do. It's much harder to be distracted or led astray by competing priorities and other shiny objects. If you set goals, you know exactly where to put your energy each day.

Boost Productivity (really, more stuff on “focus”)

Multi-tasking and other distractions are a real time suck. Goal setting helps to fight-the-suck and boosts productivity. Choose which goal is most important and focus on it. Let the others wait. Once you're in the groove with the first goal, you can think about adding something else but, make sure to keep your attention on one thing at a time.

Starting Line

Sometimes finding a way or, a place to start is challenging. Goal setting gives us that starting place. So. When are you going to get started with that goal setting? How about now?